Devu-Kal

At the dawn of the known Era, the gods sent down upon the lands powerful artifacts that bestowed great power unto those who wielded them, whether that be the power to shape the earth, control the winds, or the minds of their enemies.   These artifacts proved to be a great source of power, and those who wielded them steadily rose to power, founding great nations and claiming vast swathes of territory in their names.   However, this could not last forever, as eventually every plain, every hill, and every valley had been claimed. Thus the strong subjugated the weak, and over time the strong came into possession of more power, more artifacts, and more followers.   Eventually the fighting and power of the bearers became so fierce that the world itself was at risk from irreversible damage. The gods finally intervened, using their combined powers to attempt to fix the world to the best of their, whilst mighty, non-omnipotent power. Seeing that even they could not entirely repair the damage, they decreed upon the mortal realm that war shall be banned forevermore.   One thousand years later, the world is in an unsteady peace. Whilst war has been banned, Wargames have been set up in their place, with armies combatting each other on fields designated for the sole purpose of "settling disputes through combat". The gods did not intervene, seeing controlled battle as a way of preventing another world-wide war from occurring. However, whilst the gods had banned war, they had forgotten to ban many other things, such as assassinations, coups, or a village mysteriously burning to the ground. Thus the world is in a constant state of subterfuge, as the grand nations formed before the ban attempt to solidify their place at the top, whilst not provoking the wrath of the gods above.